Thursday, March 31, 2011

So MJ and I had a month-long discussion at our personal blogs about heroic traits as portrayed in certain fictional characters. This week, we've been having a showdown of those characters—all the ones she and I talked about, plus all the additional ones brought up in the comments.

Dean Winchester has made it to the final "four"! It's actually the final 5, because he and Booth tied the first time around. And oh, no, this time, he's losing!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Week in and week out, the Winchester boys kick some monster ass and deal with angsty family issues, all the while driving one heck of a cool car. Not too long ago, TV critic Maureen Ryan called the show "unheralded but excellent . . . packing meaty thrills, dude-tastic humor, and solid storytelling into each episode."

While it’s easy and fun to get caught up in the Padalecki-Ackles axis of eye candy and the classic rock soundtrack, the show also, as another reviewer points out, “effortlessly mixes traditional horror along with schlock and B-Movie” thrills, while “[S]imultaneously parodying and honouring the genre at the same time...”

In other words, we wouldn’t get to so often watch the brothers Winchester flex their muscles if it weren’t the tremendously creepy and formidable monsters they’ve had to face down. After all, a hero is only as good as the dragon he must slay. So, while we wait for Supernatural to return, let’s take a look at the top five most dangerous, nasty and creepiest monsters Sam and Dean have had to fight yet.

Vampires

The vampires of Supernatural aren’t the beautiful and flawed fiends à la Ann Rice and Paranormal Romance. (The exception to this rule is, of course, Dean’s brief stint as an undead bloodsucker.) Nope, these monsters have several rows of nasty looking fangs rather than two elegantly sharp incisors.

Left, open wide vampy.

They infect others virally with their blood and younger vamps often cart victims off to their nests to be enjoyed by vampire elders for weeks. These immortals can smell human blood and hear a heartbeat a mile away.

In “Dead Man's Blood,” Daddy Winchester said that a vampire has a person’s scent for life. The only way to kill a vampire is by beheading – and the Colt, of course.

Wendigos

The scariest aspect of a wendigo is that it was once human, but after embracing cannibalism was transformed into a monster that craves human flesh. They can mimic the voices of humans and are impervious to knives and guns.

Right, wendigo claw sharpening 101.

Wendigos are described as standing over fifteen feet tall and possessing glowing eyes and yellow skin, as well as overly long tongues. The only way to kill them is to burn them to death.

Doc Benton
Thomas Benton creeped me out so much in the episode “Time is on My Side” that he deserves his own entry. A doctor in the 1800s, Benton discovered the secret to becoming immortal. It’s simple, really. Just steal other people’s organs when yours wear out.

Left, a facelift, Doc Benton style?

If you wake up in a hotel bathtub full of ice with one kidney gone, blame Doc Benton.

John Winchester cut out the man’s heart years ago, but that didn’t stop the doctor, nope. Benton kidnaps Sam with the intent to harvest his organs and offers Dean a chance to avoid Hell by joining in his immortality.

Djinns
Not your average genie in a bottle, djinns in the Supernatural universe can pass as humans, but in their true form have tattoos and scars over their entire bodies. Their eyes glow blue when they attack and they possess superhuman strength.

Right, is that Khan herpe tattoo on his cheek?

Rather than granting wishes, they poison their victims and convince them the hallucinations that result are the victim’s dreams come true. In the meantime, the djinn feeds on the blood of the victim. The only way out is for the victim to commit suicide in their alternate reality. These cave-dwelling monsters can only be killed with a silver knife dipped in lamb’s blood.

Khan Worm
Nicknamed the “twelve inch long herpe” by Dean, the Khan Worm was created by Eve and enters a person’s body through the ear. Then it controls their actions, which usually involves killing the victim’s friends and family.

Left, Khan!!

The only way to remove a Khan Worm is to electrocute the victim near to death. This monster isn’t really scary until you see it—on the floor in a puddle of icky goo.
Then it just gives me the heebie-jeebies. Reminiscent of the Centaurian worm from Star Trek and the Ceti eel from Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, this worm looks like a freaky cross between a snail and an eel. Plus goo. Ewwww.

I need to wash out my brain now, thanks. As I mentioned above, just keep in mind that without all that scary stuff, we wouldn’t get to watch Sam and Dean sending these nasties packing. Case in point:

What about you? What do you think is the scariest monster on Supernatural? What’s your favorite Sam or Dean monster fighting moment?

Lisa Paitz Spindler is a science fiction author, web designer, blogger, and pop culture geek. Her debut space opera novella, THE SPIRAL PATH, will be released March 28, 2011, from Carina Press. In addition to some fun science underpinnings and a moving love story, readers will find a bonus deliciously creepy character buried deep in a mysterious wormhole.

As part of her Out Of This World Blog Tour, Lisa is giving away a copy of THE SPIRAL PATH and this Retro Saturn T-shirt to one lucky reader. Everyone who enters will receive a door prize: THE SPIRAL PATH electronic trading cards depicting the four main characters in the story. Click here to enter.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Tomorrow we are honored to have a special guest! Lisa Paitz Spindler (who is celebrating her release this week of her book The Spiral Path from Carina Press) will talk about The Creepiest Supernatural Monsters EVAH! Be sure to come by!

News is a little thin, so here's an extra tidbit that doesn't have anything to do with Supernatural but does include supernatural beings. SyFy's Being Human has been picked up for a second season. Yay!

Friday, March 18, 2011

I just remembered it's my recap day, but we've already recapped this episode, so I'm copping out and linking to an excellent article you can use to encourage others to watch. (Since if you're reading this, you probably already do! :) )

Monday, March 14, 2011

TV Overmind has a must-read write-up of the festival, including some fun behind-the-scenes info on The French Mistake, as well as great tidbits about the show in general. Some highlights: Bobby almost didn't make it on the show, there's going to be an episode entirely from Castiel's POV and it's Ben Edlund's directorial debut and the finale will be two back-to-back episodes, the first written my Sera, the second written by Kripke!

The Examiner offers another review. Here's another review of PaleyFest. Most interesting scoop - Dean's jacket is MIA because it was stolen at a photoshoot.

Eep! Entertainment Weekly talks about the finale. Nothing really spoiled, but apparently they've saved the scariest for last. We better get a season 7 because they promise it's one heckuva cliffhanger.

An Inner Space video interview with Jared and Jensen discussing Season 6.

Entertainment Weekly's TV Survival Scorecard for returning shows has Supernatural in the "Could Go Either Way" column. Let's see a renewal already CW!

TV Guide talks about the season finale. Bad news - "two unexpected deaths." Good news - Kripke says, "We're actually enjoying that, for the first time in a long time, the brothers are a really strong, cohesive unit, so we're going to keep them like that for the foreseeable future."

Friday, March 11, 2011

This was supposed to be my day to recap an episode (since MJ was was kind enough to cover when I was CW-less last week). But there will be no new episodes until APRIL freaking FIFTEENTH. So instead of a recap, you get a Random Musing, although not as random as it first appears, I promise.

I recently threw an Oscar party. I had nine dishes (such as Cheesy True Grits) and a bottle of Black Swan Cabernet, something to represent each Best Picture Nom. Minor confession: my nod to 127 hours wasn't so much a "dish" as a backpack on the table filled with Band-aids, bottled water and granola bars, but that's neither here nor there. When my guests arrived, I had my movie soundtrack playlist on the iPod. We ate and talked, then settled into my living room with the Oscar Bingo Cards I'd typed up (which had spots for stuff like "The Fighter Wins An Award," "Car Commercial" or "Helena Bonham Carter is shown with crazy hair.") A good time was had by all.

Unlike some die hard fans of Supernatural, I didn't start watching it as soon as it aired. No, my friend Trish got me hooked a couple of seasons in. In turn, I got two of my good friends and my sister hooked. (Supernatural is kind of viral that way, isn't it? But like good virus-y. Not Croatoan virus-y) It's come to my attention that in my current circle of friends, there are about 3 women (all of whom attended my Oscar nite) who have never seen Supernatural but are intrigued by the show, who've been wanting to watch it but haven't got a hold of the early eps yet. So I'm thinking...Supernatural party!

Playlist is easy. I've already got one on my iPod and I'm sure you could put one together if you don't have one yet. Snacks? Hmmm. Well, pig in a poke comes to mind (defined in a southern food article as sausage and potatoes). I could also borrow my calamari dish from Oscar Night (The Squids Are All Right, for the Annette Bening/Julianne Moore movie that shares its name with the season 3 SPN ep where we first meet Gumby Lisa). Of course there would have to be pie, as well as Devil's food cake and Seven (Sins) Layer Dip. And I still have some for-fun wine labels from Halloween that you can wrap around a bottle--proclaiming "Zombie Juice," "Bad Blood," "Night of the Living Red."

The bingo card would be fun, as well. A friend of mine recently pointed out a dialogue quirk of the show that I'd never noticed--how almost every character from Dean to Bobby to Ruby doubles up on the verb for emphasis. "I want to help--I do!" or "I really have tried, I have!" So that would have to be one of my bingo squares. Others would probably include a shot of the Impala cruising down the road at night, Bobby using the word "ijit," any song of AC/DCs playing, Dean's eyes glistening with manly, unshed tears...

What about you? If you threw a Supernatural viewing party, what snacks and games would be on the list?

Monday, March 7, 2011

The New York Post had an article about CW network boss Dawn Ostroff leaving in June, and the network interviewing candidates to replace her. On the plus side, Ostroff will pick the fall shows before leaving, which bodes well for Supernatural. On the minus side, the parent companies seem to be undecided about the future of the network overall.

Want to see Jared and Jensen introduce a few of the Supernatural Anime episodes?Awkward video here.

After Elton has the details and pictures of a Misha/Jared prank exchange (that was also tweeted by Misha).

Trish mentioned in last week's news comments that Adrienne Palicki, aka Jessica, has been cast as the new Wonder Woman in the upcoming TV series. Chad Lindberg has been seen on Criminal Minds and The Cape, and yesterday, my husband was watching a werewolf movie anachronistically named Ginger Snaps Back, and I recognized Emily Perkins, Supernatural's Becky. That's an old movie, but when I recognized her, my husband said, "Geez, isit six degrees of Supernatural now?" Yes, dear, now and always. :)

To finish off on a sweet (as in suh-weet), TV Overmind did a slideshow of Winchester hotness. Not news, of course, but it might help tide us over during the stupid hellatus.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

So…how many episodes ago was “Mother of All” released? Too long, maybe. But now she’s turned up barefoot at a gas station, looking for a ride. She’s calling herself Eve, and she comes on strong to the trucker who is willing to give her a ride. Turns out, the trucker is a religious man, telling her she needs Jesus in her life. She counters with saying his Father abandoned him, that the apocalypse came and went without him noticing, and that a mother would never do that to her children. Then she bends to tell him something, and the camera zooms in on his horrified face. Next think you know, he’s murdering his wife with a hammer.

Let me just say it’s interesting watching Bobby after JUST watching him in Deadwood, completely different character. He’s been tracking weird phenomenon along I-80, including werewolves and ghouls, which Dean calls a “Sherman’s March Monster Mash.” All leading to a man who killed his family.

Bobby joins the boys in the interrogation. The man claimed to have blacked out. The last thing he remembers is offering a kid a ride at the gas station. The three of them go through surveillance tapes and see the girl, only her face is horrible. They figure out right away that she’s the Mother of All, and all the monsters are coming in for Mother’s Day. But they don’t know how to kill her.

While they’re discussing it, another call comes in about a man losing it at the cannery. When Bobby goes, as Agent Willis, he encounters Rufus, also posing as an agent. They examine the body of the man who did the shooting—and was shot by cops. They find some gross stuff in his ear, which Bobby says is something new. Rufus corrects him that there is nothing new.

Rufus and Bobby meet up with Sam and Dean back at the cannery, where both crazies worked. Guess who they encounter? Gwen and Grandpa. Dean threatens to make good on his threat to kill the old man, but Bobby tells Sam to take Dean for a walk. Sam says, “I’m not saying don’t. I’m saying not yet.”

I’m loving the encounter between Bobby and Grandpa. Grandpa says, “You must be the guy pretending to be their father.” Bobby counters with, “Someone has to.” Then Grandpa mentions that Sam looks good, to which Sam says, “No thanks to you, I hear.” Grandpa is intrigued that Sam doesn’t remember.

Also, Grandpa knows way more about Eve than Bobby, that she was on the earth 10,000 years ago and every living thing can be traced back to her. He calls Bobby a kid, and Bobby accuses him of throwing his own kin to ghouls. Gwen is stunned by this, and goes to ask Dean, who SHOOTS her! Rufus and Bobby try to save her while Sam goes after Dean. She dies. (The attrition rate in the Campbell family is pretty high since they met the Winchesters, no?) Sam thinks Dean is possessed. Bobby wants to find Dean before Dean finds them, if that’s the case. Sam warns his grandfather that he wants to find Dean alive, or he’ll put a bullet in Grandpa’s head.

Sam thinks to call Dean, and when his phone rings, Rufus and Sam find Dean, then Bobby and Sam burst through. Dean says a worm thing just crawled out of his ear and down the drain. He looks horrified that he’d killed Gwen. Bobby wants to check his ear, and when Rufus does, he announces Dean is “Goo-positive.”

Bobby calls for them all to disarm in case one of them is still possessed, so they won’t kill each other. Bobby locks the weapons up and calls for a plan. While Bobby and Rufus make calls, Dean and Sam talk to Grandpa about his betrayal, who appears to be possessed. Dean fights him and he bolts. They re-arm and go hunting.

Samuel takes the time to booby-trap the place, and Sam is trapped on the other side of a metal door. When he encounter Samuel, he can’t shoot him. Samuel offers to tell him about his soulless time. He approaches, and Sam shoots him—OMG, in the head! I had a feeling that was what the episode meant. But, was Grandpa still possessed? Bobby tells Sam to drop the gun. I think he’s right. Rufus asks if anything came out of his ear, but no. No goo. Rufus asks if Bobby has a cranial saw in the car. “Of course,” Bobby says. The two of them go to get it, while Sam watches his grandfather’s body for sign of the wormy thing, and Dean watches Sam. Dean tells Sam he did the right thing killing Samuel. Sam says he can’t remember much about his grandfather and what he does remember isn’t good. But he wonders what his mother would say.

The power comes on and Bobby and Rufus return, ready to “play operation.” Bobby sends the boys off so they don’t have to see their grandpa’s brain. Rufus and Bobby discuss a battle in the past, about something that happened in Omaha, something that was Bobby’s fault, that Rufus lost “her” because of Bobby. Rufus said nothing will change, that he’ll never forgive Bobby for what happens, so he may as well change the subject.

As they’re cutting into Grandpa, he COMES BACK! OMG! He blocks the door so Sam and Dean can’t get to him as he kicks Rufus’s ass. Bobby shoves him up against something electrical and the worm thing escapes from Grandpa’s ear. But where is it? I’m loving the “I Heart Polka” sign on one of the lockers. They all think each other could be possessed, so they check their own ears for goo. Sam figures the only way to be sure is to shock themselves, since that made it leave Sam’s body. Sam shocks Dean, then himself, and nothing happens. Rufus waves off the test because he hasa pacemaker. Dean says he hopes it’s a good one. Rufus takes the wire to shock Bobby, and Bobby stabs Rufus in the chest!!!(I do not ordinarily use this many exclamation marks, but this episode has surprised me again and again.)

The next scene shows Bobby tied to a chair, and Dean shocking him. The thing inside Bobby tells them he’s comfy inside Bobby, since they love him. He says if they kill him, he’ll take Bobby with him. Dean is ready for an interrogation. The thing in Bobby says it has nothing to hide. It has no name—Eve cooked it up herself. She’s going to make more creatures so they can imprison the humans. She has a message, that they’re all going to die, that from here on in, it’s all pain from here on.

They want the thing out of Bobby, so they seal up his mouth, nose and ears and shock the hell out of him. The thing falls out of his ear, dead, and Bobby isn’t breathing.

The next scene shows the boys standing over a new grave, and Bobby comes to join them. It’s Rufus’s grave. Apparently he was religious and didn’t want his body burned. Bobby shares the story of how Rufus helped him when his wife was possessed, sent the demon to hell and cleaned up so Bobby wasn’t sent away for killing her. Bobby starts to tell them about what he did in Omaha, but Dean says it doesn’t matter. Their lives are too short, and offers blanket apology for all the crap they’ve pulled on each other. Rufus should have forgiven Bobby because they were family. And we all know what that means to Dean.